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Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Sex Traffickers Charged with RICO For Luring Hungarian Men to Miami

Miami – October 3,
2014

The
Miami-Dade State Attorney Office and the U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations(HSI) announce the arrest of Three
Hungarian nationals Gabor Acs, Viktor Berki and Andras Janos Vass as principles
in a criminal enterprise which lured young gay Hungarian men to the United
States with the promise of quick, easy and legal cash. Instead, the targeted young men, ages 20-22,
found themselves prostituting and performing sex acts in front of a webcam to
enrich Acs, Berki, and Vass.

“The overall attractiveness of our South
Florida area is equally attractive to sex traffickers,” stated State Attorney
Katherine Fernandez Rundle. “These individuals
may have come from a different country to exploit the vulnerable but they used
the same basic trafficker tools of fear and intimidation to make their
profits. HSI’s law enforcement
partnership with Dade prosecutors should send all traffickers a loud and clear
message that we will not tolerate their actions here.”

“This case serves as a reminder that
sex trafficking is not limited to any particular race, gender, age or sexual
orientation,” said Alysa D. Erichs, special agent in charge of HSI Miami. “I
commend the State Attorney’s Office for their support of HSI’s aggressive
campaign to stop human trafficking happening right here in our community.”

Homeland Security Investigations began
investigating this situation on October 26, 2013, when the HSI Tip Line
received information that three males in Miami Beach were possible victims of
human trafficking. Originally landing in
New York City and engaging in prostitution there, the three Hungarian nationals
were relocated to Miami Beach by Acs, Berki, and Vass. While on Miami Beach, these young men
prostituted themselves and performed for as many as 18-20 hours a day. All payments went to Acs, Berki and
Vass.

Once interviewed, the victims revealed
that their traffickers used various techniques to keep them enslaved, including
isolating them from others, withholding their travel and identification
documents, and using financial manipulation to keep them in constant debt. Specifically, the victims indicated that they
were rarely allowed to leave their shared apartment and they were told it was because they could not speak English and were not familiar with the area. Acs, Berki and Vass also took the victims’
identification documents and locked them in a safe. All communication with family members in
Hungary was closely monitored by Acs and Berki.
The three men indicated that they had been threatened, psychologically
intimidated and had experienced levels of violence at the hands of Acs, Berki,
and Vass. All three indicated fear for the safety of their families in Hungary
since Berki claimed to have been a police officer in Hungary and maintained
connections there. Additionally, Acs,
Berki, and Vass had their family information readily available from the
documents needed to come to America

31 year old GABOR ACS,
28 year old VIKTOR BERKI and 24 year old ANDRAS JANOS VASS aka JANOS ANDRAS VASS
are each being charged with: